Conservatives attack CBC in House and Senate

The Conservative Party launched attacks on CBC/Radio-Canada Wednesday after several days of the Bloc Québécois firing broadsides. The party used question period in both the House of Commons and the Senate to lambaste the public broadcaster. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his government’s handling of the Crown corporation. “He is the one making cuts to Radio-Canada,” he charged in French. “He and his CEO are the ones who want the CBC to swallow up Radio-Canada. We are the ones who are going to protect Radio-Canada and, yes, we are going to get rid of the CBC's vast bureaucracy.” Trudeau scorned Poilievre’s remarks. “No one in this country who speaks French expects that the Conservative Party is going to defend Radio-Canada,” he responded in French. “They have heard the same old song too many times. They know full well that the Conservative Party's ideological opposition to public broadcasters is too deeply ingrained, and that the CBC and Radio-Canada will face cuts under a future Conservative government. That is why they know that they have to fight the Conservative ideology. “I encourage the leader of the Conservative Party to say in English what he just said in French.” Earlier in the day Tory critic for Canadian Heritage Rachael Thomas took her shots at the CBC in a statement to the Commons. “Under the leadership of the CEO, Catherine Tait, viewership, trust and revenue are all down,” she stated in English. “Despite this abysmal performance, the Liberal government has rewarded Ms. Tait by extending her contract and granting another $60,000 bonus. That is more than most Canadians make in an entire year.” She castigated Tait for planning job cuts when it looked like funding to the corporation would be slashed. She criticized the government for increasing its allocation to the public broadcaster. “Greed and incompetence are exactly what is dragging this organization down,” she concluded. Over in the Red Chamber, Conservative Senator Leo Housakos, chair of the transport and communications committee posed questions to government representative in the Senate Marc Gold about the CBC. He, too, attacked the extra funding for the Crown corporation and alleged bonuses to senior management. “Senator Gold, would you agree that if the Trudeau government and the CBC lived in the real world, that company would be bankrupt and closed?,” he asked. The government representative defended the CBC. “The CBC, as a public broadcaster, serves an important function,” he asserted. “There is no question that it is falling on hard times — that it and others around the world are facing increased competition from web giants and changes in the way that current and younger generations consume information and news. It does not, however, follow that it does not serve a useful public purpose.” Housakos returned to the theme later in question period. “My question is very simple. Why is there an ideological hang-up in your government with regard to spending hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars every year on a service that Canadians have turned their backs on?,” he asked. “They’re not watching.” Gold again defended the broadcaster. “The CBC is struggling, and they will continue to work to become more relevant to Canadians,” he said. “There are a lot of Canadians who still benefit from the CBC and want to see it continue.” The Conservatives narrowed their focus to CBC-TV. Studies have shown that there are two solitudes when it comes to the public broadcaster, according to the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir. English Canadians are indifferent to CBC television while cherishing CBC radio. French Canadians rely on Radio-Canada TV while ignoring the radio division. – Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Conservatives attack CBC in House and Senate

Broadcast | May 9, 2024

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Conservatives attack CBC in House and Senate

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